Netflix will open Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald’s look at an art-world giant, SKY LADDER: THE ART OF CAI GUO-QIANG, at Laemmle’s Playhouse in Pasadena and at the IFC Center in New York on October 14.
The film had its world premiere as Opening Night of the World Documentary Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Fest, and will also screen at the 2016 BFI London Film Fest.
Netflix will also premiere SKY LADDER on its streaming platform on October 14.
Creating ambitious signature pieces on the largest imaginable scales, Cai’s electrifying work often transcends physical permanence while burning its philosophies into the audience’s minds forever. Told through the artist’s own words and those of family, friends and observers, the film tracks Cai’s rise and examines how and why he engineers artworks that loom large, such as a six mile-long gunpowder fuse stretching from the Great Wall into the Gobi Desert or the astounding opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
With the ambitious namesake–a 1,650 foot ladder of fire climbing into the skies above his hometown– the film captures Cai’s work, which unites Eastern philosophy and Chinese tradition with contemporary social issues.
